Tito Merelli, the world-famous tenor, has come to make his American debut at the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. However, a series of unfortunate events, capped off by a drink that is both shaken and stirred, means a last-second replacement tenor is desperately required to avoid complete disaster on opening night.

Lend Me a Tenor, which opened Thursday night (April 5) at the NorShor Theatre, is a door-slamming farce that hits the bulls-eye by setting up all of the requisite comic pieces before we fade to black at the end of Act 1, and then in Act 2 lets the dominoes fall like a house of cards.

Checkmate.

Director Michael Kraklio’s cast has the timing down on both the fast-paced dialogue and slamming all the doors in Ashley Wereley’s set. A spotlight effect is used creatively and Jon Brophy also provides a nice twilight lighting effect near the end of Act 1, complete with shadows from the window frames.

The comic centerpieces come in the first scene of the second act when playwright Ken Ludwig comes up with a hysterical conversation in which two people are totally oblivious that they are talking about totally different things, a feat he pulls off not once, or twice, but three times in succession. Which totally explains why Lend Me a Tenor is a community theater staple.